The Most Unnecessary Craft Tutorial Ever: Baby Tutu

This project is ridiculously easy. Stupid easy. If you can tie a knot you can make a tutu, so you don’t really need my instructions. Also, there are already a billion versions out there.

(Out of curiosity, I just Googled “tutu tutorial” and there are approximately 212,000 results already on the internet.)

But since you already know how I feel about acting like YOUR tutorial is the most special and awesome and original of all the tutorials ever (and also because I have nothing else to say today)(and maybe because I just want an excuse to post pictures of my baby in a tutu)(plus I was playing with my new lens) I’m going to share my easy no-sew baby tutu project with you anyway.

For the sake of honest blogging, I will tell you this version from Plumtickled is where I started when I thought “hey, I’ll just MAKE a tutu instead of paying $22 plus shipping from Etsy!” Her’s was the first that came up on Google. But since it involved sewing I decided it wasn’t really for me. True story, I once used glue to make a throw pillow JUST to avoid sewing four straight lines. And by “once” I mean “last year” and also “that throw pillow is still in my guest room right now.” I will do anything to avoid threading my sewing machine.

Step 1: Buy some tulle in various colors. You will not need this much but since the easiest way to avoid cutting tons and tons of strips is to buy the tulle in rolls you can just plan to make several tutus with the extra. I promise you know someone with a baby girl who would love a tutu. You will also need ribbon and scissors.

Total cost: $16 at Michael’s including the flowers for $1 each. Because I’m fancy.

Step 2: Cut the tulle into strips twice the length you want the finished tutu to be. I did not measure, I guessed. Since my goal is to use this tutu for the rest of the year and beyond I made it medium length.

Don’t worry too much about making the strips all exactly the same length. This is supposed to be easy.

Cut up some strips in each of the colors you’re using. I did a ratio of about 3 white to each 1 blue or green.

Step 3: Cut the ribbon to a nice long length. Like I said, I want this tutu to fit for a long time so I actually cut the ribbon long enough to go around MY waist. Now tie the ribbon around something (like your leg) to make it easy to work on. Take a piece of tulle and fold it around the ribbon. Then tie the two pieces into one knot snug up against the ribbon. Some tutorials called this a “double knot” but it’s really just one knot with two pieces of tulle. SEE? MY TUTORIAL IS THE BEST.

My thigh works well, because it’s pretty much the same size as my baby anyway.

ADDED: Knot tying demonstration. The hardest part is getting the knot snug right up against the ribbon so they all look nice and even.

Try to get the knots as tight on the ribbon as possible. It might take a little practice.

I have a REALLY HARD TIME being random with my colors (thanks OCD tendencies!!) so I didn’t really try too hard. Every 2 or 3 white ones I put in a blue one, then 2 or 3 later a green one.

Step 4: Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you’ve tied enough tulle on the ribbon to go all the way around the baby/child you’re trying to be-tutu. You can slide the knots around if you decide you need to add any more of one color in any one area. You might as well put something interesting on TV and grab a glass of wine because it might take a while to tie enough tulle to make the tutu nice a full. Trust me though, it’s worth it.

The flower came with a clip on the back. It’s like the universe made it especially for lazy crafters like me.

And there you go. That’s the whole thing. No sewing, no glue, no fancy cutters or machines or tools needed. Just tulle, ribbon and scissors. My plan is to cut enough strips now to keep making the tutu bigger as Caroline grows and to use it for each of her month-day pictures. I’ll probably still have enough left over for at least two or three more tutus, especially if I make them a little shorter. Anyone around here need a baby tutu? I’m willing to trade for Starbucks or yarn.

UPDATE!!! Since both Caroline and Evan have beat the crap out of that tutu for the last 18 months, I thought I’d add some “how has it held up?” photos. The answer is: Pretty well!

Tulle has a tendency to attract dog hair/lint/fuzz/every single crumb within 100 yards so looking back, white might not have been the best option. But it’s also pretty easy to brush off and/or lint roll and/or spray with a water bottle and shake out.

The tulle has gotten pretty tangled from being so well loved (and also stored bunched up in a corner) but can be smoothed out if I comb through it with my fingers. Although the sort of bunchy look isn’t really a bad thing – I feel like it really fits Caroline’s personality. Her nickname is Little Mess.

The ribbon waist was a really great idea, since she still fits in it easily. Even though Caroline is still tiny peanut munchkin toddler, Evan has definitely gotten bigger and the tutu still fits him (although her wouldn’t agree to post for pictures). And it’s easy to slide the tulle knots around to make it even.

I’m with MKP – you’re crafts and tutorials kick butt. I’ve looked for a simple tutu tutorial because I have YARDS, and YARDS, and YARDS (it’s possible I have enough to wind around the whole world) leftover from our wedding and was going to use it to make my nieces tutus (yes, plural). But sewing tulle is a pain in the ass, and I don’t love them that much apparently.

SO THIS IS GENIUS.

And your bebeh is probably going to result in #2 for you. My husband says, “Thank you interwebz friend.”

Just found your blog using icerocket. I loved how simple this tutorial was. I have seen many of these,I also have 3 made by my mother in law for my girls. This was simple and the photos were great so I decided to link to you on my blog in a section where I gather links to great projects in “blogland”. Thank you for sharing! What a beautiful baby!

The reason _I_ think it’s dim for people to say “Look to see if someone else has already done a tutorial” is that it never would have occurred to me to LOOK for a tutututorial (and also, you totally should have called it a Tututorial or a Tutututorial) (and also, I should have looked first to see if someone already thought of that) (now I have lost my place) (oh, yes, I remember, I was saying that I never would have looked for a tutu tutorial), so the only reason I found out I COULD make one is that I read your blog.

Now, I have a question. Do these go through the washing machine okay? Oh, and the knots–so it’s just like the first step of tying a shoe, except that you’re tying the tulle onto the ribbon? Your knots look so extremely tidy, it seems like there must be more to it than that.

I bought one of those flower clips just the other day! I got it in pink, and Elizabeth has so far worn it in her hair, on her shirt, and on a skirt.

I’m not sure about the washing machine. I think it would be OK on the gentle cycle and then hanging it up to dry (I rinsed mine off in the sink after a baby throw up incident and it was good as new). It would have to be REALLY dirty before just running it under the water wouldn’t get it clean – tulle doesn’t hold dirt very well. I think I’d be most worried about the end of the ribbon fraying, but you could always seal it with some glue or clear nail polish.

As for the knots – clearly I didn’t explain them well enough, which I was afraid of. The METHOD of the knot is like tying a shoelace but you hold both strands of tulle together after folding it over the ribbon…ah geez, I’m still doing a bad job. Ok, I’ll just take some pictures of my knot tying technique and add it to the post.

Hi hi! Guess where I went right after reading your post! Oh yes I did! I now have tulle in light pink, white, and green, and I also got a roll of blue because the “shimmer” one was on clearance. I wanted yellow but they were all out of it; I’ll get it another time. I had to put back the purple and darker pink because I have not even made ONE tutu yet and it is too soon to Go Nuts. I also bought more of those flower clips.

I’m so glad you did PHOTOS, because otherwise I would have had no idea what a unit of tulle would look like. Because of your photos, I walked right to it. And then, the ribbon—I was like, “Hm, is this it?” and then I saw it said Basic-Basic like yours, and had the same texture as yours (as opposed to the smooth satin, which maybe would work too but I wanted to copy you exactly to reduce screw-ups), so I knew it was right!

HEE! I’m so excited someone is going to make one! I also had to stop myself from buying EVERY COLOR of tulle. They were out of the dark pink but as soon as I have another Michael’s coupon I’m going back to buy it. And probably the light pink and the yellow too.

I went with the grosgrain ribbon because I thought it would be less slippery & stay on the baby better, but the satin would be prettier.

I searched for a tutu-tutorial and I found a few that explained but didn’t not illustrate. Thank you SO much for illustrating. I’m going to Michael’s and gonna buy some tulle and DO THIS. Because I have two fancy princesses. Who like Star Wars. But wear tutus.

Girls are so very complicated.

Also: ::Squeeeeeeeeeeeee:: Sorry about your eardrums…but Caroline in the tutu is tutu sweet (oh yes, it had to be done)

I have nieces that are similar. I am working on a dress made from a GIJoe tshirt and camo cotton for a skirt. But she wants a skirt that twirls. “Yes maam” I’m also in search of an adorable little pair of combat boots to tie the whole look together.

The baby feet are too much! Sooo sweet. I can’t wait to meet her, as soon as my flock are over their colds. Which will probably be March.

We have some similar tutus that I made a couple of years ago, and they have held up well, but I will say that they get kind of bedraggled in the washer. Not that the wearers care much, but they are far less tidy and lovely than they once were (a metaphor for other things in my life, perhaps?).

Ugh, no, it’s a problem with screen sizes…I have no way to make the photos readjust on their own to fit in people’s monitors. So I usually just make them fit on MY screen and pretend everyone has the same size. When I view my blog on my iPhone the pictures ALWAYS run into the right sidebar.

E’s monitor is like HUGEGIANTICMONGOUS size and my pics always look ridiculously tiny on it. It annoys me a lot more than it should.

Also, yes, my husband reads my blog while I’m sitting in the same room. It really cuts down on the about of talking he’s required to do on any given day.

I was cruising along reading your post, thinking hmmm, maybe if I have a girl… I’m not really a tutu person… Hmmm, those are really nice knots… Caroline is pretty cute in all that tulle… And then I got to the one with the feet and my ovary exploded and I died. I hope you are happy, Suzanne.

this is awesome, not just because of the ADORABLE photos of bebeh caroline in a tutu (OMG!) but also because i *was* going to post this tutorial and now i don’t have to. i will just send people here! i like that part a LOT, because i’m honestly kinda lazy. WIN ON ALL COUNTS!!! WHOOT!!!

Oh thanks for this. I suddenly have some free time on my hands as of January 21 so I am totally gonna add this to the project list. And the no sewing factor is KEY for me making things. Have I mentioned I am not very crafty?

gosh..you may have inspired the least crafty person in the world into actually making something. The photos are a big, big help as sometimes it is hard to imagine what exactly you are supposed to just by reading. Found out this week that we are having a girl so I think I’ll give this a go. Just to get some pictures as lovely as yours!

[…] I have some time on my hands. Among the projects you can expect to hear about are: pickling stuff, making this adorable tutu that Bebehblog taught me how to do , and various cleaning projects like our damn glass cabinet that’s full of pint glasses we […]

I saw a craft sheet like this at Joanns and when I went to the website to look it up again, *gasp* it was not there. So I googled easy tutu and there you were. Thank you thank you. I am so excited to make this.

Love, love, love this tutorial and tutu! I have been thinking about buying a tutu for our little one but just squirm at the prices when I know it’s just elastic and tulle. But now, now I can make one myself. I think I’ll make an orange and black one for Halloween. And maybe a red and green one for Christmas. And maybe…

[…] headband is just felt cut and hot glued around a piece of elastic. The tutu I made with my own tutu tutorial on a piece of elastic instead of a ribbon (which was a mistake, because it’s a little too big […]

your headline about the tutu caught my eye. hoping it led to something other than what I thought, I clicked it. Nope, it was insulting!!!!!! If you are so smart, why did you need a tutorial? Why did you copy it? You are a nasty woman, and stupid too. your tutu is ugly like you!

I’m sorry you were so offended by my baby tutu. Obviously you aren’t a regular reader or you would understand I was only making fun of myself. I hope it doesn’t take up too much of your time leaving nasty comments on all 125,000 tutu tutorials on the internet. Good luck!

The only thing ugly here is someone like you, who takes the time to make negative comments instead of providing something of use to everyone. It is people like you that hold the world back. You really need to check yourself, and get over your attitude because you are an ugly acting person, and you should learn to respect others.

bebehblog Your design is lovely, do not let haters detour you, their appearance means you are doing things right, and they are just petty and jealous.

Thanks for the info! I love to sew, but why when this is so easy! I just bought a “swing” skirt from a lady at a craft show recently and she used this method but used strips of material cut with pinking shears (not fun). A size 3-6 used 70 strips with finished width about 2.5 inches. Two strips per knot so 36 knots. It is so cute, just like these tutus!

A good friend just had a baby girl so I finally had an excuse to make one of these! She actually requested a tutu and I knew right where to go! ridiculously easy just like you said. It took less than two hours. I even found another shortcut – wrap the tulle around a box lid then you only have to make one cut to get all the strips!
It is super cute!!!

I found you while looking for a tutu tutorial. I want to make a mini one for my sister’s dog. I’m going to use sparkly red tulle so it can be used for Christmas and Halloween. The dog has never had closes before so this will be interesting. lol Thanks for sharing your tute. lol

When you cut the tulle into strips, did you leave the width the same as when purchased (e.g., same width as spool)? Or did you cut it in half to make skinnier strips? Your tutu looks so “full”…my sister-in-laws didn’t look like that, so not sure what was done differently. Great tutorial. Thanks!

I left them the same width as they came off the roll. If your strips are really long the tutu doesn’t stick out so much. Also, if you don’t shove all the little knots together really close it won’t be very full. You can always cut more tulle and add it in, that’s the beauty of an easy no-sew tutu!

I’m expecting my first grand daughter the end of March and the baby shower is in a little over a week. I love the one you made for the newborn pictures. Do you remember how long you cut your tulle for that one? I was going to make a short one but I love the way the pictures came out in the long tutu. HELP!!!

This was so much fun. I didnt measure the length just used the length of my arm. I used bright pink glittery tulle and white… (might have rethought all that glittery mess) but it turned out beautiful!! thanks for this GREAT post!!!!

I am so glad I found this tutorial! I cant’ sew and I had my heart set on a tutu outfit for my daughter’s first birthday. I ordered one on Etsy and it looks like I’m getting screwed and I can’t afford the others.

found you tutorial and I thank you so very much!!! My son & his wife both serve in the Navy and I wanted to try this for my granddaughter! It is sooo cute!! I did buy “regular” tulle and some of it with glitter (saddly) before I found your website..the material worked ok as well and i used elastic for the waist..also hung thin ribbons as well!! I wonder..can you wash off the glitter??? Thanks so much!

Just happened to come across your tutorial wanted to make a tutu for my son’s Cross Country coach’s 14th month old daughter to wear at our 1st meet
thanks so much for sharing – I just completed it in less than 45 mins and its beautiful
added ribbons as well TOO CUTE!

Hello! I love love love lazy crafting :D
I make lots of hair accessories for my baby girl and I wanted to make her first Hallowe’en costume myself. I’m making some wings and I wondered if I could do a tutu.
Bought the fabrics last night and made a gorgeous white sparkle and golden organza tutu this morning with ivory satin ribbon. Love it!!!
Thank you for this tutorial, made it so simple :D xxxx

[…] the easiest part of the whole costume! I went to Bebehblog and followed the instructions for her Easy No-Sew Tutu and VOILA! A tutu! I had some leftover clouds that I had glittered, so I glued those onto the tutu […]

I’ve never read any of your posts before; I just came across this by googling “how to make a baby tutu”. I am now very sorry that I am so new to your blog. This tutorial was amazingly easy and you are absolutely hilarious. Thanks for the tutorial, and for the entertainment.

[…] easygoing, and fell in LOVE with the tutu I whipped up, so it was all good, though. I mainly used Suzanne’s tutu tutorial (tututorial?), but I used 2 strips of tulle for each knot, and I attached them a little differently […]

This tutorial was great- thanks!! Because I read it a week before making it, and not immediately before, I started tying Lark’s Head knots (google it to see what I mean) to attach the tulle to the ribbon. I think the LH knots might be the way to go because they create a nice uniform beaded appearance at the ribbon. It was also very easy to pull them tight. I guess we’ll see how long this tutu holds up… that will be the true test!

YOUR tutorial was fantastic. I just starting up my own photography studio, and needed several sizes of tutus for clients. I was searching on where to purchase said tutus whenI camecacross this site. NEEDLESS to say your my hero, and now I have several tutus in several colors for my clients to choose. THANKS so much you wouldnt believe how much money you saved in start in start up costs alone.

I NEED to tell you a tip about sewing machines so you will NEVER THREAD your sewing machine again. Just tie your new color thread to the old color that’s already threaded through the machine…..
Did that make sense?

Super simple. Thank you for bothering to demo it. I’m taking it just a little different direction, tho:

I’m throwing my niece a baby sprinkle tomorrow. (2nd child, but many years since 1st, and this one is a girl). I’ve bought the supplies for 2 tutus, one infant sized and one for a toddler. I’ll have the guests each take a chunk of tulle (white, sparkle and lavender) and tie it to the ribbon waist. Then, I got some 2″ lavender-themed ribbon with pale butterflies on one side. I have a lavender sharpie, and the guests can tie a strand of ribbon next to their bit of tulle, and write a personal message on the ribbon, for baby to know who joined in on mom’s sprinkle. Advice, wishes and lovely sentiments to take her thru the years. An activity more fun than baby bingo, that the child can enjoy for years.

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Bonjour! No I'm not French, it just sounded fancy. Sorry for the confusion. I'm Suzanne, a 36-year-old mom, photographer, Navy wife, blogger, baker, and amateur at pretty much everything else. The stars of the show are Evan, born 4/5/09, Caroline, born 12/19/2010 and Lincoln, born 7/23/2014. The last bebeh is Finnegan, born 8/30/2016 so he's a toddler now but don't talk to me about that. We live in Connecticut and enjoy it very much except for most of February and March. You can find more of my photos (or even hire me!) over on my photography site, Ginger Snaps Pictures. I love hearing from you so if you have questions, stories or ideas to share, email me at bebehblog@gmail.com .

Affiliate disclosure: some of my posts contain links which may be affiliate links. That means I get Diet Coke money if you happen to like something I mention enough to buy it. I appreciate it!